I remember growing up as a child at a public school. One of my favorite things during story time was when my teacher would drag out this HUGE felt board. She would grab all the little felt pieces and tell a story with it. She would also teach letters, numbers, shapes, emotions, learning to read, and a bunch of other things. So, I saw one in my eNasco catalog and I was like oh my gosh, I need to get one for homeschooling! The one I wanted which was one of the cheaper ones cost.....$47.95 By itself with no pieces. Now, I know now a days things are more expensive then they used to be. For example I went to the store today and got a cookbook, a sheet for my daughters twin bed, tape, a school workbook, ink for my printer, and two birthday cards. I ended up spending a whopping $120.00. But, that's besides the point. I used to spend money freely. But, now with this economy the way it is. I think twice before I splurge. If you don't have to buy it just don't. Plus I need to save for retirement and colleges. I think more before I buy things. This goes through my head...Is it a need or a want? Do I have to have it right now or can it wait? Can I find it some place cheaper? So when it came to buying that felt board my answers were.....It's more of a want then a need but, it would be nice to have. I don't need it right now, but I would want it soon. Could I find it some place cheaper, probably.
And probably was right. So I googled...how to make a felt board. All of this crazy stuff came up. Cutting out cardboard, sawing wood. Yada Yada Yada. Well the one thing I knew about felt was felt sticks to felt. So I went to Michaels! I am sure you could go to any craft store. And I bought a black 18 inch by 12 inch piece of stiff felt. It cost a whole dollar. :) Then I bought a bag of 36, 9 inch by 12 inch pieces of different colored felt. That cost $6.00 or you can buy individual pieces of felt for 29 cents a piece. It was cheaper to buy the 36 pack of felt then them individually! Then I take the black stiff felt and tape it a wall in the playroom/classroom. And TaDah felt board. With pieces for a whole 7 dollars. I saved $40.95. Now that all is left to do is cut out the felt pieces and Enjoy!
Felt pieces and story time. You can buy Felt pieces at a lot of school stores. I am sure some craft stores might even have them. eNasco has a bunch of different ones you can order. They have community helpers felt piece set for $16.95, They have if you give a mouse a cookie story set for $12.95, They have a color set for $16.95, They have an uppercase letter set for $8.95 ect.... Actually my library has felt piece sets with books that you can check out. Boy do I love the library. But, they are very easy and inexpensive to make:
The first story I made was The princess and the pea. First I cut out 20 matresses in different colors just like the story says. (good for counting too) And 1 pea. Then I found a picture of a queen, a picture of a prince, a picture of a princess and a picture of a gray cloud with a lighting bolt. (you could also draw them if you would like) I also typed up Princess and the pea and printed it off. I cut the pictures out. Then I took clear packing tape. (You can also use laminate, or clear contact paper. I find that clear packing tape works just as well as laminate or clear contact paper, but is a whole lot cheaper. And if your just doing little pieces it doesn't really matter) So, I laminated the pictures with the tape. Then I cut the pictures out again. Then I took my glue gun (which I bought at walmart for $2.00 and glues sticks for $1.50) And glued each cut out piece to the felt. Then I cut it out one more time. And TaDah it's ready for story time. Kids love putting the pieces on the felt board as you read the story to them.
FYI: I do love eNasco even though sometimes they can be a little expensive. But they have everything of anything when it comes to school supplies. There website is www.enasco.com Order the type of catalog you want from them. I personally think there catalogs are better and easier to find and look at then there website is.
Happy Storytelling!
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